Mathew Goldsteyn and the CIA

Mathew Goldsteyn

US Army Major Mathew Goldsteyn revealed to the CIA during a 2011 job interview that he had “captured and shot and buried a suspected IED bomb maker” while deployed in 2010 to Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

Never one to keep a secret (or kill a collateral quasi-combatant either,) the CIA notified the military of Goldsteyn’s statements.

They launched an exhaustive investigation but came up short after they were unable to find evidence or corroboration for his assertions.

They even offered his squad immunity and dug up the area looking for remains.

A Silver Star and a Reprimand

Goldsteyn is a soldier’s soldier and an apparently gifted and brave leader:

According to the Guardian, during the Helmand deployment there was an incident where “Over a four-hour firefight, Goldsteyn repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire as he helped evacuate a wounded Afghan soldier and directed repeated airstrikes onto the enemy, according to the Army’s narrative of why he was awarded a Silver Star medal.”

“Last fall, the Army revoked Golsteyn’s Silver Star presented three years earlier. The army head also rejected a recommendation to upgrade Golsteyn’s honor to the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest military decoration a soldier can receive for extraordinary heroism.”

Having come up short on the criminal investigation they revoked the award for gallant acts occurring after the alleged killing.

They also issued an administrative reprimand that effectively ends his career, citing “a complete lack of judgment and responsibility.”

More to the Story?

Helmand Province

The Army Times reports that Goldsteyn publicly criticized US war strategy in The Wrong War: Grit, Strategy and the Way Out of Afghanistan written by author Bing West.

Perhaps that was his first, if not his biggest, mistake.

Trusting the CIA has to be close to the top of the list, too.

But, did Goldsteyn also fail in the trust department?

A US Army memorandum states “He further went to comment that he went back out with two others to cremate the body and dispose of the remains.”

If Goldsteyn was doing what he thought he had to do to protect his troops, revealing that others were involved during a subsequent job interview is very poor form, indeed.

What happens in Helmand stays in Helmand.

Beyond the Field of Battle

California’s Congressman Duncan D. Hunter (yes, son of  the other Duncan Hunter, again proving the oligarchical nature of democracy) is a strong supporter of Goldsteyn, especially adamant that he should not have been stripped of the Silver Star.

Others, also outside the exclusive sector of battlefield decision-making, have weighed in with this and that opinion regarding the legality and the morality of Goldsteyn’s alleged actions.

It looks like the “truth” may never be known.

And, trust is also a casualty on several different fronts.

Goldsteyn “trusted” the CIA but he expected something in return–a job.

Whoever helped him dispose of the corpse on a field of battle apparently endured his betrayal of their trust and their expectation of fidelity.

That must be a bitter pill to swallow.